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SEO Best Practice

July 14, 2016

SEO Companies – The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

Digital marketing companies abound on the internet. Most of these companies claim that their SEO expertise will propel their clients’ businesses to the forefront of internet search pages. They maintain that traffic to these sites will increase exponentially because they will create SEO content that is traffic-friendly.

You may be surprised to find out that if you hear a SEO company talk about increasing traffic instead of focussing on increasing revenue, you may be dealing with a second-rate company. You must beware of some SEO companies who cut corners and who may treat your business with little or no diligence.

To help you distinguish between the good SEO companies, the bad SEO companies, and the downright ugly SEO companies, here are some good and bad practices. If you notice the bad practices in a SEO company you’re dealing with, it’s time to consider taking your money elsewhere. If you notice good practices, then you are most likely dealing with a good, reputable SEO company, such as Xcite of course!

Lots of links isn’t always a good sign
First, you should note the links that SEO companies utilise. If they offer links which resemble spam and are written in poor English, or if they offer a high number of links at a low cost, you are better off to politely decline their offer.

In the SEO world it’s worth remembering the old adage that if something looks too good to be true, then it probably is. This also applies to free trials and surprisingly low cost content. Sometimes it’s worth paying for quality over attempting to save a quick buck in the short-term.

Picking the best tools for the job
The PageRank Metric was revolutionary at the time of its creation. However, there are more refined and valid metrics around today with tools such SEOmoz. If a SEO company discusses PageRank and intends to use it as their main metric tool, the little red warning flag should be raised in your mind. Quality and relevance and intent are key indicators of a successful campaign, 100 customers looking to buy your products today at the right price, is worth more than 10000 potential customers who are just researching. A good campaign covers both of these goals, focus on both.

Avoid promises like ‘Instant Results Guaranteed!’
If a SEO company offers instant results, then you know something’s up. Basically, quality and true SEO takes time and is a process. You should be heartened if a SEO company talks about your business goals in the medium to long term and discusses aligning SEO with them.

Another encouraging sign to look out for is if a SEO company speaks of forging a modest number of top quality links, instead of a rapid succession of links that appear questionable. Remember that old adage! If the company promises results and rankings fast, then you should be sceptical. On the other hand, if the company speaks pragmatically and discusses the possibility of increased sales over a reasonable period of time then they are more than likely legitimate.

Content
This needs to be unique, quality content that you know will be of value to your audience. We talk about value a lot, but in a way it’s the most important thing. If you did nothing other than provide value to your potential customers you would always be successful. If you are farming out generic low quality content, think again how you customers will perceive this, they are just as savvy and will reject you entirely if you don’t appeal to them. This can mean interesting and exciting content as well as simply informative.

One final tip!
The world of SEO is sometimes a confusing and scary territory. That is why knowing the above practices can really aid your judgement. Being informed means you won’t get landed with a SEO company that is an amateur in their field. Oh and one final note to remember…if they still discuss Yahoo!, it is time to run a mile!